31 July 2014

Lace cardigan



















A lightweight cardigan designed for lace. It also needed to be simple because I had to do the whole project in a hurry.

I didn't draft a pattern for this. I drew a sketch with measurements based on other clothes, sewed up a toile, and refined the design from there. I took a leap of faith, because the toile, made in a polyester knit that was significantly less flowing than the lace, looked awful. It didn't drape nicely at all. I hoped that the shape would appear when the cardigan was made up in the lace. Happily, the lace version turned out in line with my expectations.

I considered underlining, but decided to keep just the lace. I'm happy with that decision.

To keep it very lightweight and because I was in a hurry, I didn't add any interfacing or facing at the front. I think this was a mistake as the center front seems to need reinforcing. I received suggestions to add a ribbon or lace trim and intend to try one of those.

I haven't sewn lace before. It sewed up quite easily, but was very fiddly to lay out and stripe match.

No comments: